General Dynamics Selected for Final-Design Stage of Littoral Combat Ship Program
BATH, Maine – The U.S. Navy announced today that a team led by Bath Iron Works, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), has been awarded a $79 million option to an existing contract to continue development of its proposed solution for the U.S. Navy’s newest class of ships, the Littoral Combat Ship. The original contract was awarded in July, 2003.
The General Dynamics approach features an innovative trimaran hull that enables the ship to reach sustainable speeds of nearly 50 knots and range as far as 10,000 nautical miles with an unmatched interior volume and payload. The ship is designed to allow a crew of fewer than 40 sailors to fully operate, maintain and defend it.
Two teams, the General Dynamics team and one other, were selected from a field of three to proceed into this stage of development for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). Those three teams had previously been down-selected from a field of six.
Dugan Shipway, president of General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, said, “We’re very pleased to have been selected by the Navy to continue development of the design for this next generation of surface combatants. Bath Iron Works is one of the Navy’s longest-serving shipbuilding partners, and we are proud to have a role on the Littoral Combat Ship.”
The Littoral Combat Ship is a key element of the Navy’s plan to address asymmetric threats. Intended to operate in coastal areas of the globe, the ship will be fast, highly maneuverable and geared to supporting mine detection/elimination, anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare, particularly against small surface craft.
Key characteristics of the ship proposed by the General Dynamics team include:
* Capable of supporting several missions simultaneously.
* Open-architecture information systems enable over-the-horizon surveillance and reconnaissance, global networking and coordinated air, surface and undersea tactical picture.
* Incorporation of stealth technologies increases ship and crew survivability.
* Shallow draft allows operations near the shore.
* More payload per ton of displacement than any previous U.S. warship.
* Huge interior volume delivers enhanced mission capabilities and endurance.
* Supports concurrent and simultaneous operation of two large (H-60) helicopters.
Bath Iron Works is the prime contractor on the program. Austal USA, of Mobile, Ala., a subsidiary of Australian shipbuilder Austal Ships, is supporting final design efforts for the team’s aluminum and steel trimaran warship. General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, of Arlington, Va., is leading the ship’s open-architecture based Core Mission System design and integration from its Pittsfield, Mass. facility.
Other team members include CAE of Leesburg, Va.; BAE Systems, Rockville, Md.; Maritime Applied Physics Corporation, Baltimore, Md.; Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, Baltimore, Md.; and three other General Dynamics companies: Armament and Technical Products (Burlington, Vt.), Electric Boat (Groton, Conn.) and General Dynamics Canada (Ottawa, Ontario).
Bath Iron Works of Bath, Maine, a leader in surface combatant design and construction, employs 6,700 people. General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Va., employs approximately 68,400 people worldwide and anticipates 2004 revenue of $19 billion. The company is a market leader in mission-critical information systems and technologies; land and expeditionary combat systems, armaments and munitions; shipbuilding and marine systems; and business aviation.
# # #
Note to Editors: High-resolution graphics of the General Dynamics team LCS ship concept are available at www.generaldynamics.com.
Any "forward-looking statements" contained in this press release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
General Dynamics Corporation (ticker: GD, exchange: NYSE)
News Release - Thursday, May 27, 2004
Press Contact: (207) 442-2072
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
